Two for One {CCMC195}

Hiya friends, and welcome to another week at Create with Connie & Mary!  The gals have a fun color challenge for us this week:

Basic Gray and So Saffron are two of my favorite colors and while they do look good with Poppy Parade....I'm still not in love with that color!  I think I will be glad to see it retire in June!  So what to do with these colors?  Well, inspiration truly is everywhere as evidenced by the design on this tee at I recently bought from Old Navy:

I loved the interlocking diagonal stripes and the pattern that runs underneath the stripes.  So...with that in mind, here's what I made for Connie & Mary:

Kinda cool, huh?  Different?  You know my philosophy when I am not keen on color, right?  Use it in small doses...as in half inch wide strips, lol!  I cut half inch strips from a collection of designer papers (supply list below) and started laying them out on a piece of textured Basic Gray cardstock.  The Basic Gray cardstock started out slight larger than I wanted the end product to be.  That way, I could lay the strips with edges hanging over and trim the whole edge at once.  Gives a nice even cut that way.  Once I had the strips laid out, I used the 2 1/2" circle punch to pop out a space for the sentiment from the Word Play set.  

Of course, there was some leftover strips which I just added to the inside along with a sentiment from Happiest Birthday Wishes.  I even stamped it in Poppy Parade!  Now, before I let you go I also wanted to show that these colors could be used for a more feminine card.  I saw this beauty over at Kristin's blog and just knew I had to case it.  Be sure to check out Kristin's blog--she is amazingly talented and one of the nicest people I've met in blog-land.  Anywho....here's my take on her blossom card with this week's colors:

 and a peek at the inside:

Sorry for the pic-heavy post, there's just so much to show you!  And there's also much to see from the Design Team over at Create with Connie & Mary...be sure to check it out and maybe you'll think about playing along with us this week!  The challenge ends on Wednesday, April 4th at Noon (EST).  Hope to see you there!

 

Supplies 

Card #1: Stripes

Stamps: Word Play; Happiest Birthday Wishes

Ink: Poppy Parade

Paper: Naturals White, Whisper White CS; Basic Gray textured CS; Attic Boutique DSP (poppy); Pocketful of Posies DSP (so saffron); Designer Patterns Stack (Neutrals-basic gray)

Xtras: Basic Gray Satin Ribbon; Basic Rhinestones.

Card #2: Blossom

Stamps: Friendly Phrases; Pursuit of Happiness; Broadsheet Alphabet; Mixed Bunch

Ink: Poppy Parade, So Saffron

Paper: Naturals White, Whisper White CS; Basic Gray textured CS; Just Add Cake DSP

Xtras: Basic Gray Satin Ribbon; Basic Rhinestones
Punches: Blossom, 1" circle, 3/4" circle, 2 1/2" circle, Itty Bitty Punch Pack, Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer, Boho Blossoms

Two Step Leaves...Bravo! {PP67}

Happy Paper Players Sunday, peeps!  Jaydee is our hostess-with-the-mostess this week and she has a fabulous autumn color challenge for us:

I am certain that I never would have put these colors together as I think my Bravo Burgandy ink pad has seen rubber only once before today's card!  But what a lovely combination this is...and perfect for fall holidays.  I finally broke down and ordered the Gently Falling stamp set...I had resisted and resisted and then....sigh...any attempts at further resistance were futile.  I caved to the inevitable and....

{happy sigh} it is everything I expected it to be!!  The two-step stamping adds such richness to the image and these leaves are fabulous!  Speaking of fabulous, I took my sketch cue from those fab girls at Freshly Made Sketches for this go-to sketch:

Let's take a closer look at those yummy leaves, shall we?

I stamped the oak leaf in all the challenge colors and added the second outline layer in Versamark ink just to the More Mustard leaves and heat embossed with gold stampin' emboss powder.  Isn't it pretty?!

The background panel is Bravo Burgandy cardstock that was run through the Big Shot with the "Distressed" texture plate [retired].  Before I ran it through, I rubbed my Bravo Burgandy ink pad all over the texture plate so the ink was pushed into the de-bossed areas for a faux letterpress look. I love how this technique accentuates the texture of the plate.  It almost looks like woodgrain doesn't it?! ;-)

I hope I've inspired you to play along with Jaydee's fabulously fall color challenge this week--you're gonna love these colors!  Be sure to check out the delicious eye-candy from the rest of the design team:

The Paper Players Design Team

Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile

Jaydee

Julie Marshall

LeAnne Pugliese

Lesley Croghan

Nance Leedy

Tara Bilbao
Cindy Hall (October GD)

I hope you'll play along with us this week!  If you do, please be sure to link up your crafty goodness over at The Paper Players by Friday October 14th at midnight (PST).  I can't wait to visit you!  Thanks for stoppng by today!

supplies:

stamps: gently falling; pursuit of happiness

ink: bravo burgandy, cajun craze, more mustard

paper: bravo burgandy, cajun craze, more mustard, very vanilla

xtras: 3" circle die; perfect pennants die (scalloped circle); distressed texture plate; gold stampin' emboss powder; 1 1/4" striped grosgrain ribbon (cajun craze); linen thread; antique brads

Thankful Thoughts {CCMC169}

Happy Thursday, friends!  It's good to be back from a little break...in fact not just a break, I had a Stampcation -- yes!  A whole weekend of stamping, inspiration, prizes, make 'n' takes and fabulous Stampin Up product displays all dreamed up by the creative talents of Linda Heller and Shantaie Fowler.  I can't thank Linda and Shantaie enough for their support....I was honored and delighted to be asked to present at the event! 

I even had my very own board--so cool!  Don't I look giddy in this pic?!  So today's card is a big thank you to Linda & Shantaie for giving me such a fantastic opportunity and for planning such an amazing event--thanks gals, you ROCK!  Alright, on to this week's gorgeous color combination from Create with Connie & Mary, take a look:

Aren't they beautiful?! I combined these colors with Anne Marie's fabulous Paper Players sketch:

 and with thoughts of a Tiffany gift box in mind, I went for classic and elegant when I created this:

Oh these colors are so pretty together!  The bold background panels are from the Timeless Portrait DSP which I layered over Pool Party cardstock that was spritzed with homemade Champagne Mist shimmer spray...it's so difficult to capture the sparkle but take a look:

The flower is made from three fussy-cut Fabulous Florets images which I layered and embellished with Dazzling Details and seven, yes seven Basic Rhinestones...it is Anne Marie's sketch after all!  :-)

And since my Stampcation presentation was all about carrying the design through to the inside of the card, I had to finish this one too:

Thankful thoughts of opportunity, sharing what you love and friends made along the way...I am one lucky girl.  If you've made it to the end of this post, thanks for sticking with me.  I hope I've inspired you to ink up these gorgeous colors and make something pretty!  Be sure to check out the rest of the team over at Create with Connie & Mary where you are sure to find some yummy eye candy!  We would love to see your creation so link it up before Wednesday, October 5th at 12 noon (EST).  We can't wait to see your projects! Thanks for stopping by!

supplies:

stamps: fabulous florets,pursuit of happiness

ink: pool party, sahara sand, jet black stazon

paper: pool party, sahara sand, basic black, very vanilla CS; timeless portrait DSP

xtras: 3" circle die; circle scissors; basic rhinestones; dazzling details, bird punch

Happy Pursuits {CCMC168}

Hiya friends! Happy Thursday...the weekend is almost here! Thursday also means another challenge week begins over at Create with Connie & Mary!  This week Connie & Mary have a sketch for us and boy....it's a doozy...at least I thought so, lol!  Here's the sketch:

and here is my flipped version of the sketch:

What do you think?  You can still see the sketch, right?  Mr. Brown just brought a pack of Well Worn designer paper and this sketch seemed like a good way to feature the colors and patterns from this paper.  I've used Cajun Craze, Early Espresso, Soft Suede, River Rock and Not Quite Navy. 

I pulled out my two favorite fall leaf sets: French Foliage (water spots) and Autumn Splendor (oak & maple leaves) combined with Pursuit of Happiness to make the main sentiment panel.

The leaf was stamped in Soft Suede on Natural Ivory and fussy-cut.  I also sponged on some River Rock and added a few French Foliage water spots for a weathered look.

I repeated part of the sketch on the inside just to feature more of this wonderful designer paper!  My BIL & SIL will celebrate their 20th anniversary in a couple weeks--wow!  They were married outdoors in a nature preserve among the beautiful colors of a midwestern autumn.  The Pursuit of Happiness sentiment and the autumn theme of this card seemed like the perfect match for their anniversary.  (Noah, if you're reading this, don't tell!)  I hope they like it!

And I hope you do too!  Thanks for stopping by and be sure to pop on over to Create with Connie & Mary to check out the rest of the design team's inspiration--I'm sure it's gorgeous!  If you would like to tackle our sketch this week, please link up your creation to Create with Connie & Mary by Wednesday, September 28th at 12 noon (EST).  We can't wait to see what you create!

supplies:

stamps: autumn splendor, french foliage, pursuit of happiness, a word for you

ink: not quite navy, river rock, soft suede, cajun craze

paper: early espresso, cajun craze, river rock, naturals ivory, very vanilla CS; well worn DSP

xtras: square lattice embossing folder; linen thread; designer buttons (neutrals); corner rounder punch